SusieT
Well-Known Member
How good was your friends sample taking for the worm count? Like all tests they are not 100% accurate-what was the previous worming history?
She told her to continue to worm for tapeworm twice a year at the correct time then worm count the rest of the time. We're just waiting on some results actually then the horses who need worming will be done.
What hasn't been mentioned so far is that there is known and tested resistance in certain worming chemical groups. It is very likely that in time resistance will be more widespread, and if we're not careful we're going to end up without any effective wormers. At the moment there aren't any new grups being developed.
I think hore owners need to be educated more on worming, and yes I do think Worm Counts are a useful tool. However, owners need to be made more aware of their limitations and not rely on them fully.
Likewise owners need to ensure that when they do worm they give the horse a full dosage and not underdose like I've heard of people doing, as this will very quickly allow for the worms to build up resistance. This may well mean buying two syringes for the owners of bigger horses.
There are draw backs, already mentioned in the thread, but they can be limited. Chemical worming cannot be totally avoided, we still need to worm for Encysted Redworm December time, and Tapeworm in around October. I use Equest for the Encysted Redworm, this also covers pinworms and Bots which don't show on the tests and a dose of Equitape for the Tapeworm. There are of course other wormers you could use.
I will worm count through summer, March, June and September. The Small Redworm is the most common worm in adult horses, it's these that chemical worming programmes are targetted at through summer months. Worm Counts taken accurately are very good guidance for this. I am that mad person with dung in a bucket, mixing it up to try and get a more accurate sample. I intend to get a sacrificial blender as well.
In March two of my horses came back with <50epg readings and the other <100epg. They live in a closed herd of well managed pasture, the four year old had the higher reading. With such low readings none needed worming. They'd been wormed over winter for tapeworm and Encysted redworm. The experts I've been in contact with agree with this.
Worm Counts aren't perfect, I'm not saying they are. But at the moment they're the best tool we've got in the battle against widespread resistance. So until a more reliable method is developed, it's the best we've got and used wisely it's useful.
The other issue with WCs is that worm eggs aggregate in the faeces, so to avoid false 'low' counts you need to take an entire heap of dung, blend it, then take a sample from that. If worm eggs were evenly distributed through the dung this issue would not arise. The WC companies never mention this, and I don't understand why.
I don't worm count. You need to do it over a long period of time to get representative results. I poo pick regularly and keep the horse in a stable herd so I simply worm on a reduced chemical cycle.